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traveling abroad...phone option?

J

jian

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 5, 2008
221
2
San Francisco
So I'm traveling to China and Japan next wednesday, super excited.
but I have no phone there and I will need one to contact my friends and relatives in both countries.... I suppose I could use my cousin's 3 year old Android but that would suck, ultimately my friend said he will let me use his 3GS, but I really want to use my ATT 5S here...is it possible to unlock it or at least do what verizon does...unlock it for international use but still locked for domestic use?

also..what about iPhone 5? are these unlock able?
ATT said no because they are still in contract...I call it BS because i upgraded my 5S with cross upgrade and decided to give my 5 to my family member...could have unlocked it before signing that two year contract.
 
using phone abroad

I was in Shanghai and South Korea last year , I have an unlocked iPhone 5 already but the only plans I could find had no data. There were however many many cheap and unlocked phones for use over there. Just get the cheapest one. since you won't have data anyway. and their system is different and any phone you buy there will not work in the states. good luck
 
kinetic6 said:
I was in Shanghai and South Korea last year , I have an unlocked iPhone 5 already but the only plans I could find had no data. There were however many many cheap and unlocked phones for use over there. Just get the cheapest one. since you won't have data anyway. and their system is different and any phone you buy there will not work in the states. good luck
Click to expand...

Thanks, I will be in Shanghai! I think my friend mentioned something like 100-ish RMB for 1gig of mobile data, that should be enough for the most part I think. I can swap iPhone 5 with my dad for the month, as long as it's known to work... otherwise I'd rather just bring my 5S and use it as a camera and iPod on the flight.
 
jian said:
So I'm traveling to China and Japan next wednesday, super excited.
but I have no phone there and I will need one to contact my friends and relatives in both countries.... I suppose I could use my cousin's 3 year old Android but that would suck, ultimately my friend said he will let me use his 3GS, but I really want to use my ATT 5S here...is it possible to unlock it or at least do what verizon does...unlock it for international use but still locked for domestic use?

also..what about iPhone 5? are these unlock able?
ATT said no because they are still in contract...I call it BS because i upgraded my 5S with cross upgrade and decided to give my 5 to my family member...could have unlocked it before signing that two year contract.
Click to expand...

do one of those $3 unlocks then. Make sure to set up a VPN when you go to china or facebook and a lot of your websites you visit wont work.
 
Col Ronson said:
do one of those $3 unlocks then. Make sure to set up a VPN when you go to china or facebook and a lot of your websites you visit wont work.
Click to expand...

I tried to find one of those 3 dollar unlocks, I thought I was able to find the more expensive ones on ebay for like 10-20 bucks, but nowhere I could find it anymore, they are now around 100-200, for that much money I'd rather get a used iPhone 4 or 5 or something. (my friend there in china told me 4S is almost a collectors item for being the last 'Jobs' phone, unbelievable...)

any recommendation on the 3 dollar unlocks?
 
jian said:
I tried to find one of those 3 dollar unlocks, I thought I was able to find the more expensive ones on ebay for like 10-20 bucks, but nowhere I could find it anymore, they are now around 100-200, for that much money I'd rather get a used iPhone 4 or 5 or something. (my friend there in china told me 4S is almost a collectors item for being the last 'Jobs' phone, unbelievable...)

any recommendation on the 3 dollar unlocks?
Click to expand...

http://www.swiftunlock.com/iphone/
 
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